basic reflections

Notes From Japaratinga: The Healing Poison

 
Japaratinga is a small town on the east coast of Brazil, a couple of hours drive from the cities of Recife in the north, and Maceio towards the south. Up on a cliff facing the sea, is the centre where over seventy of us from Europe, Brazil and India (actually I was the only person from India) took part in a seminar on healing.

The coming together of local shamanistic wisdom with the intelligence of the west, was a treat for many of us working in the field of mental health. A necessary step, we felt, towards the development of a new kind of intelligence linking the ancient wisdom of tribal experience with the sharper more differentiated mental faculties which have been a part of recent human evolution.

Among some of the new features to which we were exposed, was what they call "Frog Medicine" - a process which has had scientists scratching their heads, trying to figure out the exact reason for its efficacy. There were about ten takers for it from our group which, when you hear about what it involves, will make you agree that ten out of seventy or eighty is not a small number!

The Shaman who offers the treatment, sets up shop on the premises, along with an assistant or two. When your turn arrives you go up to him and stick out your arm or the side of your thigh, to be poked six times with the burning end of a small wooden stick. Into these tiny burns which look like cigarette burn marks, is applied the sticky poisonous slime of a frog known in Brazil as the "kambo". The serum, collected from the back and sides of the frog is dried and later re-hydrated before being applied on the skin. This particular frog vaccine (vaccine da sapo) as it is called in Brazil, originally developed by a tribe in a far off corner of the west Amazon is now used in many parts of the country.

  pic by Silvia Martins

Pic by Silvia Martins


In Japaratinga on the west coast of Brazil for example, following our seven day seminar we were offered the benefits of this wonder vaccine, by Andrei, a shaman from the nearby town of Maceio. The vaccine is supposed to energize and to immunize you against various illnesses (the tribals who use it claim it is also a cure for pain and laziness). Silvia, an anthropologist from Brazil who was part of our group, and a great fan of the frog vaccine, said however, that to acquire long term immunity one had to go through the procedure at least four or five times at intervals of about six months.

The compound seems to consist of a mixture of elements including hallucinogenics and tranquillising agents. A couple of those who availed of this offer, claimed that for about half an hour it was like getting high on a psychedelic drug. A woman from Germany, a midwife, revealed that it was like a death experience. She had had the feeling of having come all the way from her homeland, only to die in an unknown country, though once she accepted the feeling, she was suddenly filled with strength and raring to go.

Two valiant experimenters who almost lost consciousness during the procedure, had the shaman mutter and wave his hands and sprinkle water over their heads, an action which revived both of them in no time. Paul, one of my dorm mates, said he felt heavy and sleepy, after the experience but that he was glad to have gone through it. From Magdalena, one of the baby sitters in our group, who had been through the experience the previous year, I learned that it had been a thoroughly unpleasant experience which had had her vomiting a lot (which is a common occurrence) but also, that the year which followed had proved to be a healthy one, free of the usual coughs, colds and fevers to which she was prone in Switzerland.

Well, coming as it did at the tail end of four shamanistic journeys which combined futuristic visions with ancient memories of existence, I said no to the frog medicine this time. But who knows, if I visit Brazil again perhaps I will try it out so that I can give you all a detailed personal account of it.

Uma

 

The Fear Of Envy

This piece on envy was written by Radha:

Envy, according to the Bible, is an evil that leads to quarrels, fights, disorder, and “every vile practice”. Perhaps so. Especially when it is not kept in its due place and is allowed to take over one self. 

 

There is such fear of feeling envy. Since childhood we are taught not to feel 'envy' and 'jealousy'... we're given hues and colours of the worst evil, so that innocent longings for something which another has, gets buried and twisted into unacceptable feelings.

 

I have for years subjugated these feelings of envy and jealousy and created for myself an image of being tolerant, accepting-of-my-fate, non-acquisitive, "nice" ... the works in fact. For years I have quite complacently lived as this persona. 

 

Why is it so difficult to accept that one feels envy? That one (also) wants something another has ? My readings and research on many issues frequently brings me in touch with the comforts of the Western countries. And I do find myself feeling envy - for streets which one can walk on, not filled with garbage, filth and what not, for well-kept parks and public spaces, for something as simple as being able to cross the road without fear of being run-over, for psychological spaces to be able to express artistic talents... Yes, I do feel I want those things to. Just to be able to live in a non-stressful environment. 

 

I used to push away these feelings and convince myself with arguments about how unhappy people are in the West. About lack of community bonding. About living in a manicured and unreal world. 

 

I have felt envy when I have met people or read their writings, who are thinkers and can imagine and articulate their thoughts well. I find myself wanting to be able to think like them, have a mind that is vast and is able to make connection. To be able to envision. Or great artistes, musicians who can make powerful music that moves the soul, artworks that lunge into one's psyche. 

 

Yes, along with my admiration and awe, I have felt twinges of envy ... of wanting to able to do such things. Somewhere I have felt that to be able to express oneself in such a manner requires powerful feelings inside. 

 

What I find now is something very powerful and releasing for me. My very acceptance and acknowledgement of my feelings of envy, removed the 'evil' that I believed it had. I find envy an interesting emotion now. I find it puts me in touch with my sense of deprivation. It allows me to feel feelings of "want". It allows me to get in touch with areas where I feel poor or needy. Somehow, this envy fills blank areas inside me which otherwise were not explainable.

 

If we just allow the label of "evil" and "bad" to fall away from envy (and other such emotions), we can allow ourselves to become 'better' people. Freer. Less hapless. More comfortable. Easier with oneself.

 

Do We Need This Kind Of Progress?

Is it a mark of what we call "progressive societies" that the more civilized and progressive they become, the less they cater to the most basic needs of the human beings who are part of that society?

At the level of physical needs, each human being requires nourishment in terms of food, water and shelter, and also needs to be supported by a framework of close relationships in which he or she feels loved and needed.

The more progressive we become, the higher our sights are set. The more complicated our goals become. Today the authorities in charge of India's major commercial hub, Mumbai, are all set to get the city recognized as a world class centre. They want global recognition. We have malls here which almost give you the illusion of being in London or Paris. Builders everywhere are intent on putting up high rise apartments in every inch of spare space available. One of the most recent achievements - the Bandra Worli sea link - has been touted as India's longest such bridge and the politicians and politicians have been almost drowning in their own pride at having produced this engineering feat, never mind if work straggled along for over ten years and there are traffic pile ups on either side of the link.

Side by side with these glorious achievements we are faced with the perpetual threat of a water shortage, never knowing whether the the lakes will fill up sufficiently to meet our needs for the year, or when the next hundred year old water conduit in the city will burst and flood the streets with a commodity more precious than gold.

How come in all these years our most basic needs have been ignored in favor of global concepts whose materialization can only benefit a handful of the privileged members of Bombay's elitist society? We are choking here through lack of open spaces and greenery and yet each bit of open space left is being drooled over by some builder and developer who wants to put up yet another multi storey construction like a deluxe apartment block or yet another mall with hundreds of shops selling jewellery and designer clothing.

Not a thought spared for rainwater harvesting, or other means that would ease the water situation. No thought for converting open grounds into parks or playgrounds for children. No thoughts for decent pavements which would minimize the need for private or public transport and would encourage people to use their legs a bit more.

Not all tribal societies were idyllic and I don't want to start dwelling on some ancient past but at least we know that most tribes had their basics in place. They often lived according to principles which reflected their organic bonds with each other as described by Thom Hartmann. in his book "The last hours of ancient sunlight". In such communities, all its members were seen as belonging to a kind of extended family, a perspective which helped to build up strength, resilience and a sense of belonging among all. If a couple had a child with a handicap the village considered that it had a child with a handicap. If a family had an elderly ailing person to look after, it became the responsibility of the village to help look after the sick person. As Hartmann puts it, when members of a community begin to lose faith in the community, and start to believe that "it's there to serve some purpose that's not congruent with their needs (as in to sell them something, to control them, or exploit them somehow) then community breaks down."

Today this is reflected in the lack of respect with which we treat the environment as well as each other. We are not interested any more in ensuring that our streets are clean or that the basic amenities of life are available to all. Seeing this destructive attitude in almost every sphere, you can't help but wonder whether the whole aim of modern society is to send everything up in flames some day soon.

Makes you wonder doesn't it, what progress is about!

Uma